Saturday, April 29, 2006

Rhubarb

Well, my rhubarb looks like it will be ready for the first cutting soon and it occurs to me that I still have frozen rhubarb in the freezer. So I decided to thaw the rhubarb and make this recipe - it is one of my favorites:

Rhubarb Crunch
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats – substitute quiona flakes for gluten free
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 cups sliced rhubarb
Topping:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water - if using thawed rhubarb, substitute the juice that you drain off the rhubarb as it thaws for the water
1 tsp. vanilla
Procedure:
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter; mix until crumbly. Press half of the mixture into an ungreased 9 inch square baking pan. Cover with rhubarb. For topping, combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan and add water. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour over the rhubarb. Top with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until bubbly.

That will still leave me one package of rhubarb in the freezer.....what to make - a crisp?, a pie? perhaps bread? I have never tried rhubarb bread, but have several recipes, maybe I will try that and let you know how it comes out.
Freezing rhubarb is very simple - just chop it up and place it in freezer bags. You do not have to blanch it and you do not have to add sugar. If you do add sugar and use the frozen rhubarb in a recipe, make sure you decrease the amount of sugar the recipe calls for.
Another tip that I learned when cooking with rhubarb - especially when making a crisp or pie - mix some Minute Tapioca (made by the Kraft) in with the rhubarb before putting in the pan. The tapioca absorbs the liquid and makes it not so runny.

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